Ultralisk
The ultralisk is a zerg heavy ground unit. Overview The ultralisk is a 20 meter long and 5 meter highBill Slavicsek, David Eckelberry, Shawn F. Carnes. Alternity: StarCraft Edition. Wizards of the Coast, March 1, 2000. ISBN 0-7869-1618-4. living battering ram, evolved from the docile brontolith; a creature that the ultralisk now bears little resemblance to.Underwood, Peter, Bill Roper, Chris Metzen and Jeffrey Vaughn. StarCraft (Manual). Irvine, Calif.: Blizzard Entertainment, 1998. Ultralisks serve as the backbone of the Swarm, possessing an exceptionally thick carapace.Underwood, Peter, Chris Metzen and Bill Roper. StarCraft: Brood War (Manual). Irvine, Calif.: Blizzard Entertainment, 1998. Ultralisks attack using large, bone-like scythes which protrude from their backs. Known as "kaiser blades", these scythes are nearly indestructible. Possessing monomolecular edges,Ultralisk (Zerg strategy guide). Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2007-10-27. these scythes are able to tear through most substances with ease. Even during the conflict, ultralisk evolution continued. By 2500 at least some ultralisks sported four kaiser bladesGiffen, Keith and Simon Furman (w), Federico Dallocchio (p, i), Milen Parvanov (col). "StarCraft: Issue 1" StarCraft 1''' (1) (May 27, 2009) DC Comics (Wildstorm). as opposed to the usual two. By the Brood War, prolonged exposure to vespene gas had resulted in an enhancement to the ultralisks' physical capabilities, among which was the evolution of a more hardened exoskeletal shell and the ability to carry out anabolic synthesis, alterations being made to the glands that produce endorphins and adrenal fluids. Game Unit StarCraft The ultralisk's attack is hardly impressive for its cost and high tier. Its main advantage is durability, staying power and fear. The ultralisk may lead an attack and draw the first volleys of defensive fire allowing more of the lesser zerg units to survive and close to attack. The ultralisk's relatively slow speed requires some planning to get it to the front rank before the attack. Its large footprint may hinder it and its allies at choke points in addition to making it difficult to reposition once caught in a melee. Ultralisks, while having strong armor, are not very effective against groups of units that deal explosive damage or large amounts of it; this includes siege tanks in siege mode, mass dragoons, reavers, dark templar and occasionally, groups of zealots. Spider mines are also effective against ultralisks. Other counters also include archons with support and the battlecruiser's Yamato Cannon which can take down more than half an ultralisk's hit points. Psionic storms and Irradiate are also capable of damaging ultralisks severely though not directly killing it. Ultralisks are one of the few zerg ground units that cannot burrow. File:Ultralisk_SC1_Game1.gif|StarCraft I sprite File:Ultralisk SC1 Rend1.gif|Ultralisk stat profile Upgrades StarCraft: Brood War StarCraft: Ghost |300px]] Ultralisks appear in StarCraft: Ghost. StarCraft II The ultralisk features in current builds of StarCraft II.Karune. 2007-09-14. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 13. StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2007-09-14. The ultralisk is capable of stepping over smaller units such as zerglings and has a cleaving ability to attack multiple enemy units.Onyett, Charles. 2008-03-10. StarCraft II Zerg Unit List: All the monsters in the game so far. IGN. Accessed 2008-03-11. Kevin Yu, Morgan Webb. 2008-03-13. G4TV Starcraft 2 Hands-On: Karune Interview. Blizzplanet/G4TV. Accessed 2008-03-20. However, it does not deal trample damage to units it travels over.Karune. 2008-01-23. StarCraft Q&A Archive - Karune Briefings - Batch 20. "StarCraft II General Discussion Forum." Accessed 2008-05-04. It has evolved the ability to burrow2008-03-18. Zerg Reveal Trailer. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2008-03-21. and can use a special "head attack" which deals extra damage to structures. Researched Abilities Upgrades Development The omegalisk was a pre-development version of the ultralisk, possessing spiked tentacles in addition to kaiser blades. The tentacles could attack multiple opponents.Samwise Didier, Dave Berggren. WWI SC2 Art Panel. Brightcove. Accessed 2008-08-01. The ultralisk was reverted because the skewering was too "random".This is the original concept piece for the 'new' Ultralisk in StarCraft II. The tentacles were fun to watch while skewing marines, but in multiplayer, the 'random' factor of that skewing did not fit into the competitive gameplay nature of StarCraft as well. Karune. 2008-08-06. Official Omegalisk concept art. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2008-08-06. The omegalisk appears in concept art for StarCraft II. Special Ultralisk Strains *Blade Guardian *Omegalisk *Torrasque **Wise Old Torrasque *Zergrinch Juggernaut Notes The ultralisk's name is often shortened to "Ultra" in online culture (most notably among Korean players). Images File:Ultralisk_SC1_Head1.png|StarCraft I profile File:Ultralisk SC2 Game3.jpg|Early StarCraft II in-game model File:Ultralisk SC2 Game1.jpg|StarCraft II model. File:Ultralisk SC2 Game2.jpg|StarCraft II render. File:Ultralisk SC-FL Art1.jpg|StarCraft: Frontline: Volume 2 depiction File:Ultralisk SC2 Art1.png|StarCraft II model References Category: StarCraft: Ghost Zerg units